Drivers may get tickets for ignoring school bus lights

Sunday

Some drivers in Beaver County may see a traffic citation showing up in their mailboxes soon.

As part of National School Bus Safety Week, several Beaver County school districts participated in PennDOT's annual program, Operation Safe Stop.

Locally the Ambridge Area, Central Valley, Freedom Area, Rochester Area and Midland school districts participated in the program along with Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter School and CDI Head Start.

Bob Pfeifer, safety director for RJ Rhodes Transit in Ambridge, said cars failing to stop for school buses with flashing lights is a "major problem" for most school bus companies.

Pfeifer estimates Rhodes' drivers see around 50 violations each year.

PennDOT spokesman Craig Yetter said PennDOT does not keep violation statistics for individual counties, but statewide nearly 800 motorists were convicted of violating the school bus stopping law last year.

During Operation Safe Stop, local police departments assisted school bus drivers in identifying drivers violating the law, but on a routine basis the bus drivers themselves do their best to get information about alleged offenders, Pfeifer said.

Bus drivers carry a form with them to write down information about violators. Pfeifer said it can be challenging for the driver to get license plate information, particularly when the vehicle is going in the opposite direction.

Once the driver gets vehicle information, Pfeifer said the form is given to him and he faxes it to the police department with jurisdiction where the violation occurred. The police then have discretion to file a complaint or not.

Then the person who received the summons makes an appearance before a district judge, Pfeifer said.

"The district judges have become very strong and very strict with that law," he said.

Despite the possible danger of ignoring a school bus, Pfeifer said a lot of drivers don't really seem to care once they get to court. "That's the truth," he said. "We've heard everything from, "The sun was in my eyes," to, "I didn't know he was doing that."

Under Pennsylvania's traffic law, failure to stop for a school bus with flashing red lights carries a penalty of five points on the offender's driver's license and can result in a 60-day license suspension and a $100 fine.

Pfeifer said if there is a particular area where a driver is having trouble with people not stopping for a bus, he'll notify the local police department, which will send an officer out to monitor the bus stop in that area for a few days.

The bus drivers are also aware of other motorists, Pfeifer said. He said drivers activate the yellow light and wait to open the bus doors until they have a chance to check things out and make sure it's safe to let children on or off the bus.

"I can't stress how much the police departments have worked with us over the years on this and the school districts also," Pfeifer said.

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